Hoarding One-eyed Willy's treasure
Scientists have a futuristic plan to live underwater and 'unlock the ocean’s mysteries'
May 10, 2023
Imagine working aboard a research station on the ocean floor, watching sea creatures swim past, then venturing out to explore the ocean’s surface. Or being able to examine the impact of climate change on coral reefs from the windows of your undersea research station.
Such facilities have so far been limited, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and developers of a proposed new “first of its kind” research laboratory hope to expand the opportunities and help humans learn more about the ocean.
Proteus Ocean Group – co-founded by Fabien Cousteau, grandson of the late ocean exploration pioneer Jacques Cousteau – is developing an “underwater space station of the ocean.” The group plans to build the station nearly 60 feet deep off the coast of Curaçao in the Caribbean by 2026.
NOAA and the ocean group announced this month they will partner to identify research opportunities as plans to build the station move forward, sharing information and scientific expertise.
The research facility would give scientists and the public a rare window on life under the ocean, the partners said. Much like the International Space Station and earlier versions of marine laboratories, aquanauts will live aboard the station as they conduct research and exploration beneath the sea.
“On PROTEUS we will have unbridled access to the ocean 24/7, making possible long-term studies with continuous human observation and experimentation,” Cousteau stated in a news release. “With NOAA’s collaboration, the discoveries we can make — in relation to climate refugia, super corals, life-saving drugs, micro environmental data tied to climate events and many others — will be truly groundbreaking.”
What’s the plan for the Proteus underwater research station?
Plans have been in the works for several years, but the pandemic and other world events have been a challenge, Marrocchino said. The team includes a group of scientists, oceanographers and entrepreneurs.
“We have a general concept, now we really get into the nitty gritty front end design,” which should last about nine months, she said.
Proteus shared video of Cousteau and others diving over the site where they plan to erect Proteus off Curaçao, an island country in the southern Caribbean, 40-50 miles north of Venezuela, that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Marrocchino said one of the largest submersible fleets in the ocean docks on the island.
Here’s what they know so far:
The station will include an observatory and laboratory.
Aquanauts will live aboard and work under the ocean.
Eight people could live in the station, with potentially up to 12.
It would allow private citizens to live underwater for periods of time.
It will include a video production facility that could live-stream.
Additional modules could be added later
The company plans to eventually develop two or three other networked stations
Have there been other underwater research laboratories?
Yes. The first were a series of three built in the 1960s under the direction of Cousteau’s grandfather. The Continental Shelf program ran for several years and allowed aquanauts to live under the water off France and in the Red Sea.
In 1975, the U.S. Germany, Poland and the Soviet Union collaborated on a three-month mission for a portable laboratory dubbed Helgoland, launched off the northeastern coast on Stellwagen Bank. Four-person dive teams spent week-long rotations. The mission experienced a number of challenges including a hurricane and unexpected movement of the station in strong currents. A German diver died as the result of an accident during a decompression stop.
Aquarius:
NOAA's Aquarius is 46 feet by 10 feet and includes a kitchen facility and work areas and supports six crew members.
It was initially deployed in St. Croix’s Salt River Canyon in 1988, then moved to the Keys in 1993.
The 85-ton habitat sits on a 120-ton base plate on the seafloor.
It has housed more than 471 crew members.
Its annual operating costs are about $1.1 million.
The average mission length is 7-10 days.
Hydrolab:
Hydrolab was NOAA’s first undersea research habitat.
Aquanauts could live on the ocean floor for days or weeks at a time.
It housed more than 700 scientists on more than 85 missions.
It operated between 1970 and 1985 and is now on display at NOAA’s Science Center in Silver Spring, Maryland
In a space just 8 by 16 feet, the Hydrolab housed three bunks, a laboratory and a moon pool to get out onto the ocean floor.
Leaving the lab required 16 hours in a hyperbaric chamber.
Hydrolab operated in the Bahamas, St. Croix and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/05/10/noaa-the-proteus-group-plan-underwater-space-station-for-research/70171186007/
https://www.proteusoceangroup.com/
Explore the GIGAMOON: Incredible interactive image stitched together from 280,000 individual photos lets you zoom in on craters on the moon in stunning detail
May 10, 2023
There are often times when you gaze up at the Moon, wishing you could just take a closer look at its mysterious lunar surface.
Now thoses dreams are finally a reality, as a mesmerising interactive picture of 'The Gigamoon' has been stitched together from 280,000 separate photos.
Photographer Andrew McCarthy pulled together the pin-sharp shot of the Moon, illuminating well-known landmarks such as the Apollo landing sites.
The epic result was achieved after dozens of unsuccessful attempts, with users now able to get up close with recognisable craters such as Copernicus, Tycho, Plato, Eratosthenes and Clavius.
'The quality is fairly consistent across the surface which is really hard to do with these major projects, so it's quite serendipitous that the sky cooperated with me to create this image,' Mr McCarthy said.
'You can zoom into any crater on this part of the moon larger than a half mile wide.
'I have been planning this for years. I have attempted it dozens of times. Sadly, usually good conditions don't hold long enough to get consistent detail across the surface, so my hard drives are filled with unfinished gigamoon projects.'
Copernicus is one of the most prominent craters on the nearside of the Moon, formed around 800 million years ago.
Debris from this site was sampled by Apollo 12 astronauts during their mission almost 54 years ago.
Both the Tycho and Clavius craters are illuminated in the shot too, located in the rugged southern highlands of the lunar surface.
Mr McCarthy even managed to capture a rare snap of Plato - a crater rarely seen from Earth due to its position in the far north.
He continued: 'This was shot entirely from my backyard, I waited until the best conditions came to me.
'The two telescopes used for this project include a 12" Newtonian telescope and an 11" SCT, which were both integral to creating the final image.'
Mr McCarthy spent around two hours switching between the telescopes to capture photos of the moon from his backyard in Arizona.
He then pulled the images into one 1.3 gigapixel final result, which he named the 'The Gigamoon', offering the clearest view of the Moon he has ever seen.
He continued: 'The moon was in the Waxing Gibbous phase at the time, which I find ideal as it means the moon is high in the sky at dusk and in an optimal shooting position so there's no need to deprive yourself of sleep to get a good shot.
'There's also a really nice relief to the image, caused by shadows elongated near the lunar terminator, which illustrate the diverse types of terrain on the moon.'
The photograph has emerged just days after a rare lunar eclipse, which peaked at 6.22pm BST on May 6.
This cast Earth's outer shadow - known as its penumbra - on the Moon, causing a subtle lighting change.
'I'm absolutely thrilled with the final image,' Mr McCarthy added. 'Zooming into this thing is surreal.'
https://truthsocial.com/@dailymail/posts/110344314142180897
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12067589/Explore-GIGAMOON-Incredible-interactive-image-stitched-280-000-individual-photos.html
343?
Reminds me of this tweet from Chuck "the Love Machine" Woolery.